Roland Foods Sushi Ginger, Sliced, Specialty Imported Food, 8-Ounce Jar (60364)

I enjoyed it I will buy it again when I when I feel the need to have it in my cooking

When most reviews are so good, I tend to be suspect of the rare poor one. Unfortunately, after trusting the good reviews (and figuring the negative one was an outlyer of sorts), I purchased this ginger. Extremely disappointed! It is very thick - which to me is not a problem. But, it is unusually hot...I've never had HOT ginger before (spicy -yes,fire HOT- no). Moreover, the balance of the spices/ingredients is just weird, leading to a very nasty bitter... almost chemical, lingering aftertaste, which I'm attributing to possibly (??) the type of or an overuse of preservative, since the nasty aftertaste isn't consistent with any of the common ingredients. If you must, try it for yourself (as did I), but be forewarned. Hopefully, I'll be able to send it back and get my return shipping reimbursed. This is NOTHING like the wonderful ginger served in a restaurant with sushi.

LOVE THIS READY TO USE GINGER! I REMOVED FROM PLASTIC RESEAL PACKAGE, AND WATER BATH CANNED INTO SMALL JARS. (PERSONAL PREFERENCE, NOT NECESSARY) GREAT FLAVOR. BEVERAGES AND COOKING. GOOD COMPANY. GOOD PRICE. TASTES DELICIOUS.

I am a pickled ginger fiend. By that I mean I eat it on its own, once or twice a day, only stopping when my mouth is on fire. This is strange, but it also makes me exceptionally qualified to rate this stuff. I ordered Roland Sushi Ginger from Amazon because pickled ginger is hard to find locally and relatively expensive (and it's that awful pink wel-pac stuff with the really chemical, salt taste). This brand is by far the cheapest I've been able to find. I was initially turned off by the taste because it's made from "shoga" (mature ginger) instead of "shin shoga" (young ginger). Shoga has a woody, crunchy texture and a spicy kick, while shin shoga is smoother in texture and flavor. But after a few days of noshing on the Roland stuff, my palate adjusted to the difference. Now that I am out of the Roland brand and about to reorder, I have realized just how disgusting the Wel-pac stuff is since picking up a jar at the grocery the other day. What I love about Roland is that it is all natural, and the ginger is not overwhelmed by unnecessary chemicals and additives. 4 stars for price and purity, minus 1 star due to the maturity/woodiness of the ginger and the wildly varying thickness and size of the slices.

First, let me say that this ginger is from China, and any food from China concerns me. I have eaten about 30 bottles of this ginger. It is different from the pickled ginger (gari) that you will get in most restaurants. It seems to have been pickled for a shorter time, and it is definitely crunchier than restaurant ginger. Also, it is hotter and less sweet, and the slices are thicker. Nonetheless, when I eat it with sushi, I like the hotter taste because it is more flavorful (ginger is naturally hot). When I first tried bottled gari 20 years ago, it was absolutely horrible, so I know how much worse this ginger could be. A lot of people don't know that gari is not supposed to be eaten with sushi; it is supposed to be eaten between courses of a meal to cleanse the palate. But I prefer to eat my ginger with sushi, and the more intense flavor suits me. However, if I were eating it between courses, I would want a milder, sweeter ginger. The first bottles of Roland ginger that I ate were from a discount store, and they were a little old. They had a slight off-flavor. By the time I ate the last bottle (a year after I got them), the inner plastic seal disintegrated as I removed it, so you can't let this ginger sit around indefinitely. Indeed, I think that the vinegar probably caused the plastic seal to degrade faster than it would have. The fresher bottles that I got from Amazon have a fresher flavor, and it is definitely good enough to eat with sushi. Unless you are prepared to make your own gari, I recommend it (although I haven't tried any other brands). Another reviewer complained about the thicker slices. Restaurant ginger is sliced very thin and is limp, this ginger is sliced thicker and is firm and crunchy. The thicker slices may be one of the reasons it is hotter, since the vinegar may not penetrate the thicker slices as well. I had no objection to the thicker slices until I opened a bottle and found slices up to 2mm thick -- that's definitely too thick. But for the most part, I don't mind the thicker, stiffer, crunchier, hotter qualities of this ginger. This ginger is a little closer to being raw than restaurant ginger is, but it's good enough to eat with sushi. The vinegar leaked out of one of the bottles during my second shipment from Amazon, and the vinegar soaked the cardboard box. I didn't have rice vinegar, so I replaced the vinegar with water, and the ginger tasted okay. When I got my third shipment (on Oct. 21st), I found that the bottles were sealed in a plastic bag. None of them leaked; but if they had, the plastic bag should have caught the liquid. I have now received 40 bottles from Amazon, and only one leaked.

Taste great. Main reason I bought it, no aspartame like many other pickle ginger. Will buy again.

I ran across this item while browsing for something else. I like to have pickled ginger with my tossed salad, so I thought I'd give it a try. The pros: + Reasonable price, which included the shipping when I made the purchase. + Fast shipping & it comes very well packed. The cons: - My first impression was that the slices were too thick & way too large... real big pieces that need to be cut or you'd get more than a mouth full! - The taste at first is pleasant, but then it gets hot... not real bad, but the odd aftertaste was a turnoff! I'm sure some will like the taste, but I was happy when the last bottle was empty! :(

Good buy